Coffee Republic buys family chain

COFFEE Republic has snapped up another 12 bars despite suffering a sharp drop in like-for-like sales. The fast-growing chain has paid £800,000 for the family-owned GoodBean, which operates cafes in upmarket towns in the southeast of England. Brighton-based GoodBean has an additional seven sites in the pipeline and will swell Coffee Republic's chain to 100.

Coffee Republic chief executive Peter Morris said the 5.8% fall in comparable sales in the half-year just ended was not due to saturation of the market but declining food sales at its outlets - a problem addressed by switching from frozen to fresh pastries. But the sales picture is not improving in the run-up to Christmas.

'Christmas seems to be coming later this year - there just aren't the pedestrians and shoppers in London that there were in previous years,' Morris said, although he remained generally optimistic for the full year.

The GoodBean deal fits the group's aim of expanding outside the City and London's West End, where 38% of its stores are based.

Despite the worsening like-for-likes, profit margins surged and the group cut losses from £1.3m to £775,000 in the six months to 30 September compared with the same period last year.